Volnomad

Definitely wrap the full front and mirrors, irrespective of the product you choose. Also be sure that the cross-members are wrapped on the front bumper. I learned the hard way last month on my cross-country trip that the typical bumper plus 1/3 hood/fender wrap is essentially useless if you drive on the interstate for any length of time.

Marine Blue

I would expect a clear bra to last 5 - 6 years before needing replacement. That assumes you want the front end to look its best. I'm on year 3 with my Spyder and the bugs and rocks have definitely marked up the bra (xpel) but it's not bad enough to replace.

fskof

Go with the Expel Ultimate. Its a self healing clear bra which means if you do get a scratch just park the car in the sun and the scratch will disappear. Also the Expel wont yellow like the 3m products.

I have the Full hood, front bumper, front fenders, head lights, turn signals and both mirrors covered. My friend has his entire 997 GT2 covered.

Domer911

xpel ultimate (full) recently cost me $1800, but not done by a dealer--no way I'd jump off that ledge.

Dmitri

I researched the crap out of clear bras before having mine installed. Here are my conclusions:

1. Do the entire front clip, including full hood. Especially on darker colored cars, if you only do a portion of the hood and fenders, the wax build-up along the edge of the clear bra where it comes to an end will be noticeable.

2. Xpel Ultimate is definitely a great material to use. The self-healing properties are pretty amazing, and can handle most minor abrasions. If you take a direct hit from a rock, a decent-sized stone or some other road debris,it's going to penetrate. Xpel Ultimate is slightly thinner than a lot of other materials. For this reason, some installers use a combination of Xpel on the fenders and hood, and a slightly thicker material on the bumper - the best of all worlds.

3. The installer makes all the difference. Even if you get the best materials, a sucky installation ... well, sucks. I checked the reputations of installers, then visited a couple of shops to see what they looked like and to see what some of their finished work looked like (as well as what kind of high-end vehicles they were working on).

Some installers' work looks good at 3 feet, but when you get up close, it is a nightmare. They try and "freestyle" the instal with an X-acto or similar razor cutting tool, and wind up with uneven edges, and worse - sometimes cut not only through the film, but into the paint. Yikes!

4. Go "extreme" - By that, I mean that many (if not most) installers use templates for the various parts of the car, the bumper being the most complex. Some also do "extreme" wraps, where they use the template as sort of a starting point, but cut the pieces a bit larger so they can tuck the edges for a cleaner, virtually invisible installation.

If the installer who quoted you is a top-notch installer, using top-notch materials, then the price you've been quoted is well within the ballpark. Good luck!

Bruce In Philly

The only real, true, best, clear bra

NSFW (sort of)

Peace
Bruce in Philly

php

I did mine about a month after I got my car last Sep. was around $1200 I believe for full front (including mirrors). Was done by a guy that the local porsche owners recommended. He does all of Hennessy Porsche's work. I bought my car out of state so I could go to him directly, which is about $200-$300 cheaper if going through the dealer.

Iceter

3M claims their clear bras will not yellow and they warrant their product against that, pretty much unequivocally.

I mentioned 3M yellowing on my BIL's Sienna on another forum and a member who worked at 3M actually jumped all over me. He claimed that 3M will not yellow and that they spend tons of time and money chasing false claims about their product.

In fact, when I pressed my BIL about it after that happened, he went back and looked at some remaining material that he had kept from his self-installation and it was a no-name brand.

Spiffyjiff

thanks for all the input, folks.

i went with the installer that the body shop routinely uses (good rep on line) and went with xpel ultimate. unfortunately i didnt get to talk to him beforehand and so wasnt able to ask him to "wrap the edges" etc. however, even tho that's def a cleaner look, i have seen some cars where edges are peeling since apparently there's less/unsmooth surface area to adhere to once you are in the cracks and crevices. either way, mine looks great. thanks all.

papafoxtrot

I've got some acid rain damage (spots) on the horizontal surfaces of my C4S. Would filming my hood and fenders make these show more or less?

Paul_F

Dmitri

You can have an installer place some sample pieces of Xpel Ultimate (or whichever product you're considering), and will pretty much be able to tell right away how it will look. What's nice about the Xpel product is that it sort of has its own "clear coat" layer, which really does a pretty good job hiding paint blemishes.

997v2cabrio

I only got half and wish I paid extra for the full. You can see the line on the hood, and its a pain to clean the wax off the line.

MoeMistry

We always install a FULL coverage because I feel with materials like XPEL Ultimate and SunTek Topcoat, those are films that are meant to last for years. So make the investment up front and do it once. Wrap the edges, cover the entire hood, fenders, bumper, mirrors and headlights. We actually remove bumper and all pieces and lights from behind and wrap around edges, then re-assemble everything. Nice thing about being a detail shop, we perform paint correction and touch up repairs prior to film installation then apply the nano coating over the film once installed. A proper install should be around $1700-2200 and ones including disassembly and pre/post install procedure like I mentioned above will be around $3200-3500. This is all based on region and installer skill level. Like someone mentioned, most installs look fine 3 feet away, but come close and start looking around where panels meet, headlight washer fluid nozzle, bumper edges, and you'll see why someone paid more.

ENW

I had my local dealer arrange for it to be done (they use an outside contractor). I've seen their work before and was very happy with it. Anyway, they used the 3M film and I had them do the front, partial hood, the mirrors and underneath the fuel filler to prevent paint damage during refueling. Price was around $700.

mdrums

I did full front including fenders, headlights and mirrors. I paid $1600 back in September 2011.

I redid the bumper only last fall and the paint under it was like new.

The cool thing about doing the full front is you don't see clear bra lines and can't tell it's there.